Homeless are 'real people, they exist,
they are here' and solution is needed

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published
8:00 pm EDT, Thursday, September 16, 2004

Your Sept. 10 story on the issue of homelessness was well done and gave an overview of the differing opinions in the matter.

However, there are several items I feel that need clarification in the ongoing discussion.

Mayor Murphy states that she is not in favor of supporting a "tax-subsidized" shelter in New Milford. To this point I wholeheartedly agree, but it has never been the intention of the New Milford Shelter Coalition in this administration or the previous to ask for public tax monies to be used for a homeless shelter.

Quite the contrary, the coalition has made it patently clear it would assume the financial responsibility for all costs, including necessary changes and sustainability of any structure that the town would allow to be used for a shelter.

This would be accomplished by contributions from those that chose to support the shelter and as such would not impact the budget. To imply otherwise only adds to the existing misconception which has caused so much rancor in the matter.

The issue of "programs in place" mentioned by the mayor is another item that merits discussion.

While there may be some aid offered to the homeless or indigent by the Department of Social Services, and it appears minuscule at best, there is little in the way of shelter for the numbers we have seen over the course of the last two years. A bus ticket to the already overcrowded Danbury shelters is hardly an answer to the problem.

I can still recall the opinion of a former councilman on this issue. Fifteen years ago his solution was to "give them a ticket out of town." It would seem that as the saying goes, the more things change the more they stay the same is applicable even today to some in this community.

It is correct that the Loaves and Fishes (another volunteer organization) does provide meals to all that come to their facility. However, once again the matter of shelter is not addressed, as it is not within their purview.

As to the mayor's contention of "attracting everyone else's homeless," there may or may not be some validity to this opinion. Is this justification for sending the people to surrounding shelters that we know are from New Milford?

Finally, there is the most contentious item of all. This is the ongoing wrangling of just how many people are homeless and the technical definition of being homeless.

Statistics gathered by the coalition vary even compared to those compiled by the New Milford Department of Social Services. Add to this that the Northwest Connecticut Continuum of Care counts 82 homeless in New Milford - placing the town in the upper tier of homelessness in Litchfield County - and to the mayor's point, it is confusing to compile an accurate number.

What is not debatable is the fact that of the total, some are entire families, they are real people, they do exist and they are here.

To blithely dismiss the issue by being "offended" with the method of statistical compilation, as the mayor does, will not make it disappear.

What we are seeking, as has often been stated, is a handup, not a handout. Several of the noted clients have found employment and moved out of the cycle of homelessness. This is the end goal of all that labor in this endeavor.

It is not a "feel-good program," as noted by the mayor, but rather an exercise in human decency. All I ask is that the matter be looked at honestly and discussed factually with the realization that the town of New Milford needs to finally address the issues.

People are not born homeless; a myriad of reasons exist that can cause people to find themselves in this predicament. Some through their own actions find themselves in this condition, but the inescapable reality is that we almost all could face the possibility of finding ourselves in the same straits.

In the interest of gaining insight into this matter, I am offering a trip for the mayor and associated officials to the offices of the Torrington Area Health District, where the Northwest Connecticut Continuum of Care holds their monthly meetings.

To ensure that there is no impact on the town of New Milford budgetary costs, I will be glad to provide transportation to and from the meeting. Perhaps we may all learn something and gain new insight into not just the problem, but hopefully the solution.
Pat Farquharson is a New